MADDEST OBSESSION - Chapter 1: Chapter 1

Aria De Luca sat on the edge of the long mahogany table, her fingers tapping against the polished surface. The silence in the room was suffocating, heavy with unspoken threats and expectations. Her father’s voice had long faded into the background as her pulse hammered in her ears.
Across from her sat the man she was about to marry.
Dominic Moretti.
He was everything she despised about this world—cold, ruthless, and dangerous. And worse, he wore his power like a perfectly tailored suit—because, of course, he was wearing one. Midnight black, tailored to fit his broad frame, with not a wrinkle out of place. His dark hair was slicked back, his sharp jaw tense, but his face betrayed nothing.
Only his eyes spoke.
Those eyes… molten grey, piercing through her like a blade slicing into flesh. They hadn’t left her since she walked into the room. And despite herself, a chill ran down her spine every time she met his gaze.
She was a De Luca. She wasn’t supposed to feel fear. Or weakness. But sitting across from Dominic Moretti made her feel both.
“Aria,” her father’s voice finally pulled her attention back. “Sign it.”
Her eyes flicked down to the marriage contract between them. Bold black letters, ironclad terms, their fates written out in legal binding ink.
The merger of the De Luca and Moretti empires.
A peace treaty dressed up as a wedding.
A lie.
Aria swallowed, feeling bile rise in her throat. “You expect me to sign my life away like this?” she asked, her voice sharp, slicing through the thick tension.
Her father’s jaw ticked. “This is not a request, figlia mia.”
Her mother sat beside him, silent as always. She hadn’t spoken once during this entire ordeal. She never did when her husband had made up his mind. Her eyes, however, flickered with something that resembled pity.
Aria didn't want her pity.
She turned back to Dominic, studying him. “And you,” she said coldly, “do you think forcing a woman into marriage will make her loyal? You want an obedient wife?”
His lips curved slightly, but it wasn’t a smile. It was something far more dangerous. “Obedience was never my expectation, cara mia,” he said smoothly, his voice low and deep, like velvet wrapped around steel. “But loyalty… that will come.”
“Not likely.”
He leaned forward then, slow and deliberate, his elbows resting on the table, fingers laced together. His voice dropped lower, just for her. “Oh, it will. You’ll find that I’m very persuasive.”
Aria’s heart stumbled in her chest, but she masked it with a bitter laugh. “You mistake fear for loyalty, Moretti.”
“I know the difference.”
The air snapped between them like a live wire.
Her father exhaled sharply. “Enough. This marriage ensures peace. You will do your duty.”
“No,” she snapped. “This marriage ensures your empire survives. Don’t pretend this is about peace.”
Dominic didn’t interrupt. He watched her with infuriating calm, like a predator studying its prey.
The truth was, Aria knew exactly why she was here. The De Luca family had been bleeding power for years. The Moretti empire was rising. Without this alliance, her family’s fate was sealed. She was the bargaining chip—the sacrificial offering.
Her freedom exchanged for survival.
Her hand trembled slightly as she reached for the pen. She hated herself for it.
“I swear to God, if you think this means you own me—”
“I don’t think, Aria,” Dominic interrupted, voice soft but menacing. “I know.”
His words coiled around her like a rope tightening around her throat.
She should have slapped him. Should have thrown the pen across the room. Should have screamed.
Instead, her fingers closed around the pen.
Her father’s face relaxed, falsely comforted.
Aria's eyes never left Dominic’s as she pressed the pen to paper and scrawled her signature. Every curve of her name felt like carving her own gravestone.
Dominic took the contract next, his movements fluid. He signed his name effortlessly, as though this deal was nothing but a transaction to him.
But when he set the pen down, his eyes locked with hers again. And for a brief second, she saw something else flicker there.
Obsession.
Not desire. Not love. Something darker.
Possession.
And Aria’s blood ran cold.
As the papers were gathered, Dominic finally stood. He approached her slowly, stopping only inches from her. Her father and the rest of the men in the room faded into meaningless background noise.
“We’re bound now, Aria,” Dominic murmured, his voice just loud enough for her ears alone. “Try to run. I will always find you.”
Her breath caught.
And then, to her horror, he leaned in and pressed his lips to her ear.
“You were mine long before you signed that paper.”
A shiver coursed through her body. Not from the heat of his breath, but from the weight of his words.
She yanked her head back and stared at him with fire in her eyes. “You will never own me.”
His smile was slow, deliberate, and terrifyingly patient. “We’ll see.”
And with that, Dominic Moretti turned and walked away, leaving her breath
less, furious… and terrified of what had just begun.
Her had officially begun.